ABSTRACT After several decades of official disinterest, contemporary history became a popular topic of Portuguese historiography in the late 1970s. However, attention was often directed towards socio-political aspects, with legal and constitutional aspects barely being examined at all. Although the situation has not changed dramatically, the area benefits indirectly from the interest that is being shown in the period. The following text brings together a group of works which deal, more or less directly, with the legal and institutional framework of 19th-century Portuguese history. The lack of any systematic treatment of the subject makes a synthesis or a critical bibliography far too hazardous a task, so that this contribution claims to be little more than an organized list of titles, with some brief comments.